Interview with Christine Barba from Project Light to Life

Christine from Project Light to Life during her first Segway ride Read the interview to find out what made this list item memorable Photo used with permission

It is incredibly inspiring to talk about bucket lists with other people, and with the Internet, the list of people you are able to meet is endless. Christine Barba writes a blog called Project Light to Life which is full of interesting stories, multiple bucket lists, and an outward focus where she does “one kind act for someone else/help someone cross off an item from his or her bucket list each time I cross off several accomplishments on my list.” Below are some of Christine’s stories and insights about blogging and bucket listing.

Fun fact about you: I tend to root for the underdog when it comes to favorites, television characters, etc. Since I was three years old, my favorite animal has been a pig — though this choice may also have something to do with the fact that when I was three, I simply copied my mom’s favorite animal. My favorite character on Spongebob Squarepants has always been Squidward; while I still love Spongebob and Patrick, I’ll bet Squidward’s had a lot to deal with having Spongebob as a neighbor and he’s simply misunderstood!

Funner fact:
I played a tree in a play once. To be fair though, it was Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, so a lot of us were trees!

Funnest fact:
When going on my first Segway tour last summer, my scooter went over a rock on the beach, I flew into the air, and landed on my face. A local from St. Martin ran over to me and shouted, “Woah! I used to work for the Segway Place and I’ve never seen anything like that before. Man you really went flying!” then gave me a high five, before a nice mother from Ireland ran over and said, “Oh my goodness, you gave me a heart attack.”

What do you think has been essential to your success as a bucket list blogger?
A few things: continuing to stick to my list, which gives me additional momentum to pursue the next goal, getting inspired by other bucket list bloggers’ sites or by authors with similar projects, and, I’m going to sound cliché here, but this one is essential, receiving kind comments, emails, or messages from friends, family members, readers, etc, who encourage me to continue this project.

What was something that surprised you about blogging?
How many amazingly cool (I sound a bit juvenile here, but those are the first words that come to mind) people I met as a result of blogging and crossing items off my bucket lists. I have not only connected with a lot of inspiring people via email, but also, have met some amazing people in person as I continue to pursue new activities, travels, etc. I owe many of these encounters to starting this blog!

Who or what inspires you?
So much! My parents, my grandparents, and my family have always inspired me. In addition, I am a bit obsessed with other bucket list bloggers or authors who take on similar projects: Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, Noelle Hancock’s My Year with Eleanor, the film Pay it Forward, the documentary Craigslist Joe, and Annette White’s blog “Bucket List Journey” have all inspired me to start or continue my project in some way. When I started thinking about beginning a bucket list blog, I looked into whether people had already done something similar and came across Annette’s blog, which motivated me to make my own blog.

What is your all-time favorite bucket list item (of yours or someone else’s)?
I often get asked this question and because I’m one of the most indecisive people ever, find it difficult to come up with an answer. But after thinking about it more, I have to say crossing Australia off my travel bucket list (though I am reluctant to use the term ‘crossing off,’ as I hope to return there!)

If you had to describe your blog in 6 words or less, what would you say?
A bucket list blog, exploring happiness.

If you weren’t doing anything related to your bucket list, what would you be doing in your free time?
It’s likely I’d be spending time with friends and family, reading, writing, going to the beach, drinking coffee, or being clumsy and indecisive.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
There has been a lot! But one piece of advice that comes to mind is something I remember my mother telling me at the end of last year that she said my grandmother also once told her: “This too shall pass.” In other words, if you are feeling sad about something right now, you won’t feel this way forever! You just have to keep pushing through. And she was right 🙂 I think this advice goes along with some great advice we received from my professor in my interpersonal communication class this year, which is that emotions are like the weather. We should not block them out, but simply observe them as they come and realize that, like the weather, what we see as “negative” emotions such as sadness or anger will go away just as rain eventually does. Although he also reminded us that no emotions are “negative,” since they all come to teach us something.

Another favorite piece of advice is an Eleanor Roosevelt quote I discovered thanks to Noelle Hancock’s My Year with Eleanor, which is “Do one thing every day that scares you.”

Finally, I love George Eliot’s comment, “It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

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Thank you to Christine for taking the time to share your thoughts, stories, and advice with us! You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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